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131 Harv. L. Rec. 1 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/hlrec131 and id is 1 raw text is: The Independent Newspaper  E         at Harvard Law School
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October 15, 2010  wwgred Or -         twitter @  rTcCOR       Vol. CXXXI, No. 1

CRASH COURSE IN CAMPAIGNING
Harvard Law student mixes school with stumping in
Mass. hometown

By SEVERIN RANDALL
While most of his peers were learn-
ing about politics in the classroom,
one Harvard Law student was experi-
encing the ups and downs of a real po-
litical campaign-including defeat.
John Thorlin '12 lost a Massachu-
setts primary election to James J.
Lyons, Jr., on Sept. 14, ending his bid
to be the Republican nominee in the
race to fill an Essex County seat in the
Massachusetts House of Representa-
tives. The district encompasses An-
dover, Thorlin's hometown.
Thorlin attended Georgetown Uni-
versity before transferring to Harvard
College, where he and his friends
started a conservative and libertarian
newspaper. Thorlin graduated from
Harvard College in 2009 and started
at the Law School that fall.
I've always kind of been into poli-
tics, he said. That's kind of what
motivated the run.
After hearing about the race in his
home district last spring, he decided
to take advantage of the fact that his
hometown is only a short distance
from the Law School.
At that time, there was one other
person who was considering getting
into the race, but he didn't end up get-
ting into it for a variety of reasons,
Thorlin said. So I thought, 'Eh, it
shouldn't be too bad.'
In fact, Thorlin would end up facing
a particularly well-organized oppo-
nent who spent more than three dol-
lars for every one of Thorlin's. Thorlin
spent $3,594.93;  his  opponent,
$13,401.99, according to the Massa-
chusetts Office of Campaign and Po-
litical Finance website.
To get on the ballot, Thorlin went

CHRISTOPHER MILLS/PHOTO COURTESY
Harvard Law School student John Thorlin '12 waves to passersby as
he campaigns in a Republican primary battle to fill a Massachusetts
House of Representatives seat.

home for three weekends to knock on
doors and gather the 150 signatures
required. It took time, he said, but
Thorlin had help with the campaign
from his parents, two high school in-
terns, and about 10 members of his IL

section.
I had really great support from
people I knew from section, he said.
It was actually kind of shocking-re-
ally kind of transcended political
THORLIN, cont'd on pg. 8

Greg Giraldo '90, Stand-up Comedian, Dies

BY JOEY SElLER
Greg Giraldo, comedian
and Havard Law School
graduate, died on Wednes-
day, Sept. 29, at the age of
44.
The Home News Tribune
of East Brunswick reported
that Giraldo suffered from a
drug overdose the previous
Saturday, according to po-
lice.
Giraldo graduated from
the Law School in 1990 and
went on to work at Skadden
Arps in Manhattan before
leaving law behind to estab-
lish a successful career in
comedy.
I knew I was going to
quit all along, Giraldo said

in an interview with the
Chicago Tribune in 1996.
I was first generation, I
was the first person born
in my family, the first per-
son to go to college.... In
my mind, I had to at least
try [law]. And I did - and
I hated it so much that
there was no way I was
going to live my life that
way.
In 2000, Esquire pro-
filed members of his class
who had also chucked the
legal  profession.  The
magazine adapted that
obituary of his first life
to describe his motivation
to attend Harvard Law
School, provide for and

r1Lt YEARuBuK/HOrTOiLuutY
Greg Giraldo appears in the
1990 Harvard Law School
yearbook. He later became
a successful comedian.

impress his parents, and
pursue idealism before
pursuing comedy.
Once people laugh at
your jokes, he thought,
there's no doing law, re-
ported Esquire.
Giraldo, best known for
his work in Comedy Cen-
tral's roasts, has already
prompted obituaries from
the comedy community,
including a eulogy by Jon
Stewart on The Daily
Show, replacing its Mo-
ment of Zen with Our
Moment of Greg.
The comedy world lost
a good man and a great
comic, Stewart said in
the eulogy.

Law School

Removes GPA
Scale from
Transcripts,
Cites Student
Complaints
By SEVERIN RANDALL
Harvard Law School has shifted its
grade publication policy again, accord-
ing to Student Government representa-
tives who met with Dean Martha
Minow last week. The new 5.0 GPA
scale that the Law School will use to
calculate Latin Honors will no longer
appear on the reverse side of current
students' official transcripts.
This latest alteration comes only a
few weeks after the administration ac-
knowledged publicly that it had made
material changes to the grading system,
including moving to a new GPA scale
to calculate Latin Honors.
The new system, put in place after
faculty recommendations, closely re-
sembles a traditional 4.0 GPA scale. It
awards a student five points for each
Dean's Scholar Prize credit, four for
each Honors credit, three per Pass
credit, two for a Low Pass credit, and
zero for a Failing grade.
Student Government President Jen-
nifer Dein said Minow told her the fac-
ulty, including among them McKinsey
types, worked to recommend a method
of calculating Latin Honors that would
be less arbitrary than the system em-
ployed last year. That system assigned
GRADES, cont'd on pg. 8
INSIDE
The HL Record
News
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* Students Provide Aid in La.
Opinion

UN Fails Rwanda
Advice from OCS and OPIA
Student Government Welcome

Schulte Roth&UZabel
Are you ready for
your next step?
Sdndile Roth 6 Zabel - See Sack Cover

*
*

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